Craftalong for Sandy Relief

With much of my family on the East Coast, I’ve been slightly obsessed with the storm and it’s aftermath. Fortunately, my NJ shore residing parents fared pretty well, but so many others throughout the region weren’t as lucky. I’ve been feeling helpless, being so far away, and despite giving to the Red Cross, I really want to do more.

Of course, some thoughtful bloggers have come up with an awesome way to help, no matter where you live. Here’s the info:

Many Sandy victims in New York City and surrounding areas are living without power, desperately trying to keep warm. Reports from the hardest-hit areas are that folks are in need of warm garments to make it through–and making matters worse, temperatures in the area have dropped this week. It is really starting to feel like winter.

Two New York-based crafty bloggers,Brett Bara from Manhattan Craft Room & Natalie Soud from A Dose of the Delightful, began to think about what they could do to help those Sandy victims without electricity, heat, or even proper shelter. They knew there had to be a way to harness the power of crafters to help–because if there’s anything knitters, crocheters and sewers are good at, it’s making warm things.

So they decided to create Make It Better: A Craftalong for Sandy Relief. The goal? Rally crafters to make warm hats, scarves, blankets, mittens, socks and sweaters–and deliver them to people in need as soon as possible.

Will you join us?

HOW TO HELP

MAKE IT. Simply knit, crochet or sew a warm garment or blanket–items most needed are hats, socks, gloves/mittens, scarves, sweaters, and blankets. Use one of the quick and easy free patterns we found below, or any pattern you like. If you’d like to include other small items to help the relief effort, feel free to donate another warm garment (new or gently used, please). We are hearing reports that general clothing is no longer needed, so please restrict your donations to warm winter items only.

SEND IT. Send your finished item to 9 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10013 as soon as possible (c/o Natalie Soud). We want to start distributing warm goods within a week or less, so stitch something quick and send it off! Our volunteers will deliver the items to various points in and around New York City. (Although we’ll start delivering immediately, we’ll be accepting donations for the near future, so free free to send projects whenever they’re complete.)

CRAFTALONG. Share what you’ve made and help spread the word! Please, please, please blog, Tweet, Facebook, Instagram, and Pin that you’re participating in the Sandy Craftalong as soon as you can (like today!) so that we can get as many hands stitching as possible. Then, when you finish your project, share what you’ve made by posting it on your own blog and on our Facebook page at facebook.com/sandycraftalong. Also remember to use the tags #makeitbetter and #sandycraftalong